Wisdom Literature (PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SONGS): Week beginning 26 February 2008

For Week beginning
26 February 2008

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Proverbs
The book of Proverbs is a loose collection of proverbs (short wisdom sayings), some which may go as far back as King Solomon (c. 900 BCE), though most scholars date the final "redaction" at around 300 BCE, which is after the Exile. (For new students, a "redaction" is an edit of a book by later writers in a way with new material. This term is common in Bible criticism.)
Hebrew parallelism should be noted here and elsewhere in the book prophets, etc. Parallelism is a kind of rhyme whereby one part of a verse either repeats the content of the first part (synonymic parallelism), contrasts it (antithetic parallelism), or advances it in some way (progressive parallelism). I'll give three simple examples of each:
1. Synonymic parallelism: "Buy me a soft drink; purchase me a cola."
2. Antithetic parallelism: "Buy me a soft drink; but do not buy me milk."
3. Progressive parallelism: "Buy me a soft drink; buy it or I will die of thirst."
These are not eloquent examples and are not intended to be. You'll see enough good examples below and in other Bible texts. Now what is the point of parallelism? Repetition is part of a human need (as is imitation). All art is based on repeating; while being able to perceive those repetitions is necessary to enjoy all art. Sometimes the repetition is exact: "Twinkle, twinkle little star." Or "star/are" (exact repetition of sound). But more commonly there always some variation: the melody is the same but some notes are changed or it's arranged for a different instument, is louder, softer, reversed (as in Bach), etc. Soon you'll take pleasure in these patterns in the Bible if you don't already. But they were misunderstood, even by Jesus, or at least the writer of the Gospel of Matthew. For Matthew's Jesus quotes the prophet, Zechariah: "See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." By the time of Jesus' time, the writer of Matthew's Gospel forgot how to read this parallelism (donkey/colt), which says the same thing twice. So Matthew understood it literally to mean both a donkey and a colt. Thus when he has Jesus speak, Jesus asks for "a donkey . . . with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me" (21:2). Luke, who probably wrote a decade later, corrected the mistake; Luke's Jesus says, "you will find a colt tied there, which no-one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here" (LUKE 19:30). So if Jesus, or at least the writer of the Gospel of Matthew, misunderstood parallelism, there's nothing to be ashamed about. Just keep your mind open and learn to recognize these repetitions in the texts you read. The books below, as well as all the book prophets, are full of these parallel verses.
As for authorship, though  Solomon may have written some of the proverbs (see 1 Kings 4:32) he certainly did not write most of them. But Solomon was so revered (respected) all books of wisdom were said to be written by him.
Regarding Wisdom Literature in the Bible, these are books that rely more on universal ideas than on the special promise to Israel. That's why there's no mention of the Jewish Covenants (to Abraham, Moses, David) or to the Torah (Sabbath, etc.). Chapters 1-9 are considered a later addition, to "preface" the collection of Solomon's proverbs beginning chapter 10:

1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:
1:8 My son, listen to your father’s instruction,
    and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching:
1:9 for they will be a garland to grace your head,
    and chains around your neck.
1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.
1:11 If they say, “Come with us,
    Let’s lay in wait for blood;
    let’s hide secretly for the innocent without cause;
1:12 let’s swallow them up alive like Sheol [Hell],
    and whole, like those who go down into the pit.
1:13 We’ll find all valuable wealth.
    We’ll fill our houses with spoil.
1:14 You shall cast your lot among us.
    We’ll all have one purse.”
The criminal traps himself and his own blood is shed:
1:15 My son, don’t walk in the way with them.
    Keep your foot from their path,
1:16 for their feet run to evil.
    They hurry to shed blood.
1:17 For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:
1:18 but these lay wait for their own blood.
    They lurk secretly for their own lives.
1:19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain.
    It takes away the life of its owners.
Wisdom is then personified as a Lady, and later contrasted to Lady Folly. All these proverbs have a mainly secular (non-religious) sense, though God is referred to; Egyptian influence is apparent in some of them. The image of Lady Wisdom as a consort (marriage partner) of God, from the beginning of the world may have seemed unsatifactory to strict Jews who did not wish God to have a consort, like Canaanite gods; later, in early Christian writings, Jesus replaces Lady Wisdom, as in the Gospel of John ("In the beginning was the Word," that is, Jesus). The following suggests the preaching of Jesus "in the public squares" and "I will pour out my spirit on you":
1:20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street.
    She utters her voice in the public squares.
1:22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
    How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery,
    and fools hate knowledge?
1:23 Turn at my reproof.
    Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you.
    I will make known my words to you.
Verse 1:23b: At Pentecost, Jesus pours out his spirit and his followers speak in tongues, as the prophet Joel predicted.
1:24 Because I have called, and you have refused;
    I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;
1:25 but you have ignored all my counsel,
    and wanted none of my reproof;
Note synonymic parallelsim in these verses above and below:
1:26 I also will laugh at your disaster.
    I will mock when calamity overtakes you.”
The following woman is often called Lady Folly, contrasting against Lady Wisdom. These are called personifications. Note that this evil woman is called a "foreigner"!
2:16 To deliver you from the strange woman,
    even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;
2:18 for her house leads down to death,
    her paths to the dead.

The commandment to wear phylacteries around the forearms and forehead is suggested here:
3:3 Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you.
    Bind them around your neck.
    Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Many believers consider the following verse of great comfort:
3:5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart,
    and don’t lean on your own understanding. 
3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
    the man who gets understanding.
3:15 She is more precious than rubies.
    None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
The following suggests the image of the Egyptian Goddess of Truth, Maat, who held a looped crosss (ankh) in her right hand and a feather with which to weigh the sins of the dead:
3:16 Length of days is in her right hand.
    In her left hand are riches and honor.
3:17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness.
    All her paths are peace.
Refers to the Garden of Eden in Genesis and suggests that Wisdom might return us there:
3:18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.
    Happy is everyone who retains her.
In later Jewish-Christian though, Jesus replaces (Lady) Wisdom:
3:19 By wisdom Yahweh founded the earth.
    By understanding, he established the heavens.
This is a key idea in Old and New Testaments; that not doing good is as much a sin as doing evil. Chapter 25 of Matthew is key here; in speaking of the Last Judgment, Jesus never mentions doing evil as the cause of punishment, but not doing good!
3:27 Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
3:28 Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again;
    tomorrow I will give it to you,”
    when you have it by you.
Beautiful imagery below, contrasting the good and the wicked:
4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light,
    that shines more and more until the perfect day.
4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness.
    They don’t know what they stumble over.
A Deuteronomist idea here, neither swerving to left or right:
4:27 Don’t turn to the right hand nor to the left.
    Remove your foot from evil.
A warning against adultery. Notice that ideas here suit monogamy (one wife: the wife of one's youth); Jesus later makes this into a commandment: "what God has joined let no man put asunder" (separate). Note that sex is viewed as part of a normal life ("let her breasts satisfy you"); in later Jewish (i.e. Christian) thinking, sex was looked upon with distrust. Note the metaphoric language below: the cistern is the body. Verses 5:15-16 are obvious examples of synonymic parallelism with little change in content:
5:15 Drink water out of your own cistern,
    running water out of your own well.
5:16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    streams of water in the public squares?
5:17 Let them be for yourself alone,
    not for strangers with you.
5:18 Let your spring be blessed.
    Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
5:19 A loving doe and a graceful deer—
    let her breasts satisfy you at all times. 
One should show charity to one's neighbor but not involve oneself in their debts. These proverbs plead that you get rid of that burden. Note the synonymic simile (comparison) in v. 6:5:
6:1 My son,
    if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;
6:2 You are trapped by the words of your mouth.
The following (6:6) may well be the most famous proverb in the collection. It includes progressive parallelsim, advancing the main idea with others. Note that in Proverbs, Nature becomes a guide as much as God or the Torah (Law), or more so:
6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard.
    Consider her ways, and be wise;
6:7 which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
6:8 provides her bread in the summer,
    and gathers her food in the harvest.
6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to sleep:
6:11 so your poverty will come as a robber,
    and your scarcity as an armed man.
Another reference to phylacteries:
6:20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
    and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching.
6:21 Bind them continually on your heart.
    Tie them around your neck.
6:23 For the commandment is a lamp,
    and the law is light.
6:27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap,
    and his clothes not be burned?
6:28 Or can one walk on hot coals,
    and his feet not be scorched?
6:29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife.
    Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
6:34 For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband.
    He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.
6:35 He won’t regard any ransom,
    neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
The prostitute speaks:
7:16 "I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
    with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
7:17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18 Come, let’s take our fill of loving until the morning.
    Let’s solace ourselves with loving.
7:19 For my husband isn’t at home.
    He has gone on a long journey.
7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him.
    He will come home at the full moon.”
8:12 “I, wisdom, have made prudence my dwelling.
8:15 By me kings reign,
    and princes decree justice.
Jesus says: "Ask and it shall be given," which is a paraphrase of 8:17b. (For new students, verses are numbered by book, chapter, verse, sometimes with an "a" or "b" to show the first or second part of the verse. So Proverbs 8:17b means the book of Proverbs, chapter 8, verse 17, second half ("Those who seek," etc.).
8:17 I love those who love me.
    Those who seek me diligently will find me.
Wisdom is pictured the way Jesus later is, as with God from the beginning. So Jesus replaces Lady Wisdom in the Gospel of John:
8:22 “Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his work,
    before his deeds of old.
8:23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
    before the earth existed.
8:29 When he marked out the foundations of the earth;
8:30 then I was the craftsman by his side."
The phrase "seven pillars" has become famous; Lawrence of Arabia titled his book, "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom." The number seven probably denotes (means) perfection and has no literal meaning (God made the world in seven days, resting on the seventh day). The following a charming vignette (small picture) of Wisdom personified as a hostess:
9:1 Wisdom has built her house.
    She has carved out her seven pillars.
9:2 She has prepared her meat.
    She has mixed her wine.
    She has also set her table.
9:4 As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,
9:5 “Come, eat some of my bread,
    Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!
9:6 Leave your simple ways, and live.
    Walk in the way of understanding.”
Verse 9:5 (above) may have influenced the Last Supper of bread and wine.
10:1 The proverbs of Solomon.
Note the antithetic parallelism in these proverbs:
10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,
    but righteousness delivers from death.
St. Paul later says, "Love covers a multitude of sins":
10:12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but love covers all wrongs.
10:24 What the wicked fear, will overtake them,
    but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
10:25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more;
    but the righteous stand firm forever.
The following is a warning not to cheat at business:
11:1 A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh,
    but accurate weights are his delight.
11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame,
    but with humility comes wisdom.
The uselessness of evil:
11:4 Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath,
    but righteousness delivers from death.  
11:7 When a wicked man dies, hope perishes,
    and expectation of power comes to nothing.
11:22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout,
    is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
An idea, preaching charity, later repeated in Ecclesiastes:
11:24 There is one who scatters, and increases yet more.
    There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
One of the most famous proverbs, later one phrase became the title of a play/movie: "Inherit the Wind."
11:29 He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind.
11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.
"Tender mercies" became the title of a movie. The quote has a bitter irony, as if to say, even the good acts of an evil person do not measure up to the standard of goodness:
12:10 A righteous man respects the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
13:1
Many proverbs have great psychological (and social) insight. People can't be denied of their hopes for long:
13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
    but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
13:23 An abundance of food is in poor people’s fields,
    but injustice sweeps it away.
One of the most famous (and controversial) of all proverbs, commonly phrased as, "He who spares the rod spoils the child." This is an example of whether the Bible should be red literally or not. If one relies on parallelism, one can dismiss "rod" as a mere metaphor or synonym for "discipline" and make "discipline" the main word.
13:24 One who spares the rod hates his son,
    but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
In other words, you can make your life easy but only at the cost of income:
14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,
    but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man,
    but in the end it leads to death.
A typical warning against sacrifice without love:
15:8 The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh,
    but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
15:17 Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is,
    than a fattened calf with hatred.
Familiar in the common proverb, "Man proposes, God disposes."
16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man,
    but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
Note the psychological insight:
16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes;
    but Yahweh weighs the motives.
This proverb instills faith that everything is in God's control, as in the Joseph story where God allowed everything to happen for the best (Joseph became Governor of Egypt, etc.).
16:4 Yahweh has made everything for its own end—
    yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Again: "Man proposes, God disposes."
16:9 A man’s heart plans his course,
    but Yahweh directs his steps.
Familiar more simply as, "Pride goeth before a fall":
16:18 Pride goes before destruction,
    and a haughty spirit before a fall.
16:25 There is a way which seems right to a man,
    but in the end it leads to death.
16:31 Gray hair is a crown of glory.
    It is attained by a life of righteousness.
16:32 One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
    one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
Casting lots was common among the Jews from the earliest times, as with the Urim and Thummim, which scholars believe were dice thrown to answer yes or no (Exodus 28:30). Later Matthias replaced Judas by lot as the 12th apostle (Acts 1:26). But the idea was that God controlled the chance:
16:33 The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from Yahweh.
17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
    than a house full of feasting with strife.
17:5 Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker.
    He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.
17:16 Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
    since he has no understanding?
17:22 A cheerful heart makes good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Mind over matter:
18:14 A man’s spirit will sustain him in sickness,
    but a crushed spirit, who can bear?
18:17 He who pleads his cause first seems right;
    until another comes and questions him.
Examples of comic proverbs:
19:24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
20:14 “It’s no good, it’s no good,” says the buyer;
    but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.
20:22 Don’t say, “I will pay back evil.”
    Wait for Yahweh, and he will save you.
21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
    but Yahweh weighs the hearts.
21:3 To do righteousness and justice
    is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
Preaching equality, like Job, who knew the God who made him also made his servant:
22:2 The rich and the poor have this in common:
    Yahweh is the maker of them all.
22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
    and when he is old he will not depart from it.
22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
    I will be killed in the streets!”
24:10 If you falter in the time of trouble,
    your strength is small.
Another warning about not helping people when they need help:
24:12 If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this;”
    doesn’t he who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, doesn’t he know it?
    Shall he not give to every man according to his work?
24:16 A righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again;
    but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
24:19 Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers;
    neither be envious of the wicked:
24:20 for there will be no reward to the evil man;
    and the lamp of the wicked shall be snuffed out.
Note the way the proverbs are loosely organized:
25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.
St. Paul later quotes this proverb. The idea is if you forgive your enemy he will feel shame:
25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat.
    If he is thirsty, give him water to drink:
25:22 for you will heap coals of fire on his head,
    and Yahweh will reward you.
Comic images:
26:14 As the door turns on its hinges,
    so does the sluggard on his bed.
26:15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish.
    He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
St. James says the same thing in his letter from the New Testament:
27:1 Don’t boast about tomorrow;
    for you don’t know what a day may bring forth.
27:7 A full soul loathes a honeycomb;
    but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
Comic and ironic, since the blessing is obviously meant as a curse, like telling a classmate whom you dislike, "I hope you pass your exam!"
27:14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,
    it will be taken as a curse by him.
Also translated as, "Where there is no vision, the people perish":
29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
    but one who keeps the law is blessed.
29:25 The fear of man proves to be a snare,
    but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe.
30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle:
The perfect life is neither rich nor poor; either extreme is bad:
30:8  "Give me neither poverty nor riches.
    Feed me with the food that is needful for me;
30:9 lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’
    or lest I be poor, and steal,
    and so dishonor the name of my God.
Strong image:
30:20 “So is the way of an adulterous woman:
    she eats and wipes her mouth,
    and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
31:1 The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.
31:2 “Oh, my son!
31:8 Open your mouth for the mute,
    in the cause of all who are left desolate.
31:9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
    and serve justice to the poor and needy.”
Proverbs achieves unity by ending with Lady Wisdom, this time as an ordinary but noble woman:
31:10 Who can find a worthy woman?
    For her price is far above rubies.
31:13 She seeks wool and flax,
    and works eagerly with her hands.
31:14 She is like the merchant ships.
    She brings her bread from afar.
31:15 She rises also while it is yet night,
    gives food to her household,
    and portions for her servant girls.
31:16 She considers a field, and buys it.
    With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.
31:17 She arms her waist with strength,
    and makes her arms strong.
31:18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp doesn’t go out by night.
31:19 She lays her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
31:20 She opens her arms to the poor;
    yes, she extends her hands to the needy.
31:25 Strength and dignity are her clothing.
    She laughs at the time to come.
31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom.
    Faithful instruction is on her tongue.
31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain;
    but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.

Ecclesiastes
This little book teaches that all life is vanity (useless). It's a powerful book and is as good a companion for our journey through life as any. It's almost Buddhist preaching on the vanity of life is balanced by a confidence in God's justice and design; whether this was a later addition, to make the book suitable for inclusion in the Bible, is an open matter. But we all need a dose of this wisdom now and then. "Vanity" here means (literally) vapor or emptiness; a close synonym is "useless." Note how the very style of the verses imitate the useless cycles of Time:

1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
1:2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 1:3 What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun? 1:4 One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever. 1:5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises. 1:6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses. 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again. 1:8 All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 1:9 That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. 1:10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. 1:11 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.
"Solomon" becomes a type of the person who has everything and is therefore in a position to prove the uselessness of everything. Though attributed to King Solomon, the book was probably written around 300 BCE:
1:12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 1:13 I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. 1:15 That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted. 1:17 I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind. 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
2:1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.
2:4 I made myself great works. I built myself houses. 2:11 Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
2:14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
2:18 I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. 2:19 Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
 In later Jewish thought, this became a commandment, namely to enjoy life, because this comes from God:
2:24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
Some of the most famous verses in the Bible, but how to read them? As practical advice or as part of a useless cycle of action?
3:2 a time to be born,
    and a time to die;
a time to plant,
    and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3:3 a time to kill,
    and a time to heal;
a time to break down,
    and a time to build up;
3:4 a time to weep,
    and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn,
    and a time to dance;  
3:8 a time to love,
    and a time to hate;
a time for war,
    and a time for peace.
The common assumption that reference to God was added only at the end doesn't add up, unless the Redactor was very skillful in weaving God in other verses too. The Preacher's message seems clear: only God has value, but nothing else, or nothing without God; however useless life seems, "God has done it, that men should fear before him" (3:14); nothing man does can add to or detract from God's work. As the Catholic writer G. K. Chesterton observed, pessimism and optimism are false opposites; they both go together: once we realize how hopeless life on earth is, we can find God and achieve real hope, not false hope. So optimism fulfills pessimism! This I think is how to read the Preacher of Ecclesiastes. Even Elvis leaves the building, finally; but God never leaves; that's the message here:
3:11 He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. 3:14 I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.
Again, what seems like pessimism is true optimism: our hopes on this earth are useless (this is a pagan idea too, as in "the vanity of human wishes" or "The Wheel of Fortune"). But the Preacher finds real hope in God; seeing that we ourselves are no better than the animals encourages us to seek our only dignity in God, not in ourselves:
 3:18 I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals. 3:19 For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity. 3:20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 3:21 Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”
4:1 Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 4:2 Therefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive.
Here the Preacher's pessimism has moral import or value: Why labor ueslessly and for whom?
4:6 Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.
7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart. 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good. 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
7:10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.
7:13 Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked? 7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.
7:15 All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing. 7:16 Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
7:29 Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.”
 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 8:12 Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow; because he doesn’t fear God.
9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun. 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
A famous quote: "Dead flies spoil the ointment":
10:1 Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
Since we don't know God's plan, all we can do is what makes sense to us to do. The famous verse 11:1 has been differently interpreted. It can either mean to give charity, since God will reward us; or it can mean just do what makes sense at the time because perfect plans are impossible:
11:1 Cast your bread on the waters;
    for you shall find it after many days.
11:6 In the morning sow your seed,
    and in the evening don’t withhold your hand;
    for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that,
    or whether they both will be equally good.
This pessimist agrees life can be beautiful, BUT:
11:7 Truly the light is sweet,
    and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to see the sun.
11:8 Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all;
    but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many.
    All that comes is vanity.
Nothing puritanical here: accept your youthful desires, but remember you'll have to face God too, so keep a balance:
11:9 Rejoice, young man, in your youth,
    and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth,
    and walk in the ways of your heart,
    and in the sight of your eyes;
    but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
This warns of the coming of old age and (possibly) even the end of the world:
12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
    before the evil days come, and the years draw near,
    when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them;”
12:2 Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
12:3 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
    and the strong men shall bow themselves,
    and the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those who look out of the windows are darkened,
12:4 and the doors shall be shut in the street;
    when the sound of the grinding is low,
    and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird,
    and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
12:5 yes, they shall be afraid of heights,
    and terrors will be in the way;
    and the almond tree shall blossom,
    and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
    and desire shall fail;
    because man goes to his everlasting home,
    and the mourners go about the streets:
12:6 before the silver cord is severed,
    or the golden bowl is broken,
    or the pitcher is broken at the spring,
    or the wheel broken at the cistern,
12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was,
    and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
12:8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.
    “All is vanity!”
The following verses are often thought to be an obvious (later) addition to be sure readers ended on a Godly note:
12:13 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. 12:14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

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Song of Solomon
Some scholars have tried to organize these verses into a drama or plot, but most scholars see  them as a loose collection of erotic (love) verses. Remember, "God saw that it was good"; so sex is good too. That's the main point if these verses are read straight. But they have also been read as an allegory of God's love for man and man's love for God, or as the love between God and the Church. The atrribution of characters is a later addition to help the reader separate speakers. In English the Beloved is the woman, the Lover is the man. In some readings there are three characters, including the "king"; in other readings, the king is just another name for the lover, who is a "king" to his beloved. Note the equality of love or desire in the man and the woman; in loving, there is equality and the Fall from Paradise is undone; they eat of all the fruits of the Garden at least in their minds.

1:1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
Beloved
1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
    for your love is better than wine.
Read as allegory, "dark" below can mean full of sin; the Christian, for example, is dark (full of sin) but is loved by God (the Lover) anyway ("but lovely"):
1:5 I am dark, but lovely,
    you daughters of Jerusalem,
    like Kedar’s tents,
    like Solomon’s curtains.
1:6 Don’t stare at me because I am dark,
    because the sun has scorched me.
Vineyard seems to be used in both senses: a real vineyard, but also the woman's body ("I haven't kept my own vineyard"):
My mother’s sons were angry with me.
    They made me keeper of the vineyards.
    I haven’t kept my own vineyard.
1:7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
    where you graze your flock,
    where you rest them at noon;
    For why should I be as one who is veiled
    beside the flocks of your companions?
Lover
1:8 If you don’t know, most beautiful among women,
    follow the tracks of the sheep.
    Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
1:9 I have compared you, my love,
    to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
    your neck with strings of jewels.
Beloved
1:12 While the king sat at his table,
    my perfume spread its fragrance.
1:13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh,
    that lies between my breasts.
1:14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
    from the vineyards of En Gedi.
Lover
1:15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
    Behold, you are beautiful.
    Your eyes are doves.
Beloved
1:16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant;
    and our couch is verdant.
As allegory, Jesus is the "Rose of Sharon" and the "Lily of the Valleys":
Beloved
2:1 I am a rose of Sharon,
    a lily of the valleys.
Lover
2:2 As a lily among thorns,
    so is my love among the daughters.
Beloved
2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
    so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
    his fruit was sweet to my taste.
2:4 He brought me to the banquet hall.
    His banner over me is love.
2:5 Strengthen me with raisins,
    refresh me with apples;
    For I am faint with love.
2:6 His left hand is under my head.
    His right hand embraces me.
2:7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
    by the roes, or by the hinds of the field,
    that you not stir up, nor awaken love,
    until it so desires.
The following verse (2:9b) is the basis of the Jewish priest (Kohan) spacing the fingers of his hand so God can look through them, a gesture borrowed by Leonard Nimroy for his character Spock in Star Trek.
2:9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart.
    Behold, he stands behind our wall!
He looks in at the windows.
    He glances through the lattice.
2:10 My beloved spoke, and said to me,
    “Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
2:11 For, behold, the winter is past.
    The rain is over and gone.
2:12 The flowers appear on the earth.
    The time of the singing has come,
    and the voice of the dove is heard in our land.
2:13 The fig tree ripens her green figs.
    The vines are in blossom.
    They give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.”
Lover
2:14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
    In the hiding places of the mountainside,
    Let me see your face.
    Let me hear your voice;
    for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
The "little foxes" are those who interfere with the lovers in their passion (that "spoil the vineyards," or the lovers bodies). As allegory "the little foxes" are sins that "spoil" God's "vineyards" (the wine of life).
2:15 Catch for us the foxes,
    the little foxes that spoil the vineyards;
    for our vineyards are in blossom.
Beloved
2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his.
    He browses among the lilies.
2:17 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,
    turn, my beloved,
    and be like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bether.
As allegory, the following verses show how the soul must seek God (Jesus) before he is found.
3:1 By night on my bed,
    I sought him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but I didn’t find him.
Lover

4:1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
    Behold, you are beautiful.
The Lover says he will go to the body of his Beloved ("to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense").
4:6 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away,
    I will go to the mountain of myrrh,
    to the hill of frankincense.
4:7 You are all beautiful, my love.
    There is no spot in you.
4:11 Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb.
    Honey and milk are under your tongue.
    The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
The Lover says his Beloved is still a virgin:
4:12 A locked up garden is my sister, my bride;
    a locked up spring,
    a sealed fountain.
The Beloved returns the compliment. There is perfect equality between the lovers; her body belongs to him ("his garden" with "precious fruits"):
Beloved
4:16 Awake, north wind; and come, you south!
    Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come into his garden,
    and taste his precious fruits.
Lover
5:1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride.
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;
    I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
    I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Beloved
5:2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
5:4 My beloved thrust his hand in through the latch opening.
    My heart pounded for him.
5:5 I rose up to open for my beloved.
    My hands dripped with myrrh,
    my fingers with liquid myrrh,
    on the handles of the lock.
As allegory, these verses tell of the soul's difficult search for God (other translations have "Lover" instead of "Beloved"). The search for God can be painful; God appears for a while then seems to be absent ("I looked for him, but I didn't find him. I called him, but he didn't answer"). Moreover, the Beloved (the Christian soul) must suffer pain from society in her search (she is beaten):
5:6 I opened to my beloved;
    but my beloved left; and had gone away.
My heart went out when he spoke.
    I looked for him, but I didn’t find him.
    I called him, but he didn’t answer.
5:7 The watchmen who go about the city found me.
    They beat me.
    They bruised me.
5:16 His mouth is sweetness;
    yes, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
    daughters of Jerusalem.
6:2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
    to the beds of spices,
    to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
6:3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
    He browses among the lilies,

7:1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter!
    Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
    the work of the hands of a skillful workman. 
7:6 How beautiful and how pleasant you are,
    love, for delights!
7:7 This, your stature, is like a palm tree,
    your breasts like its fruit.
7:8 I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree.
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
    the smell of your breath like apples,
Beloved
The following reverses Genesis, where God punishes Eve by saying woman's desire will be for the man; here the man desires the woman:
7:10 I am my beloved’s.
    His desire is toward me.
7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field.
Verse 7:11b: Actually, a literal translation of "lodge" is also "bushes," which makes more sense, but is indelicate (possibly, "let us do it in the bushes"):
    Let us lodge in the villages.
7:12 Let’s go early up to the vineyards.
    Let’s see whether the vine has budded,
    its blossom is open,
    and the pomegranates are in flower.
    There I will give you my love.
7:13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance.
    At our doors are all kinds of precious fruits, new and old,
    which I have stored up for you, my beloved.
The woman wants complete devotion ("Set me as a seal on your heart"), for love is a fire even floods can't put out:
8:6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
    as a seal on your arm;
    for love is strong as death.
    Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol.
    Its flashes are flashes of fire,
    a very flame of Yahweh.
There is debate whether God (Yahweh) is mentioned in the Song of Songs; this translation includes "Yahweh," while others omit it. So the book of Esther is the only book that never mentions the word God.
8:7 Many waters can’t quench love,
    neither can floods drown it.
If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,
    he would be utterly scorned.
The Song ends with the Beloved begging her lover to take possession of her body like "a young stag on [her] mountains of spices"!
Beloved
8:14 Come away, my beloved!
    Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!

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